OFFICE FOR LITURGY

of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford

The Ascension of the Lord (C)

As he blessed them he was carried up to heaven

The Word This Week

Recently the bishops of England and Wales decided to move the celebration of Ascension to this Sunday. While this moves the feast away the fortieth day, it does open up this celebration as part of the journey of the Easter Season. Ascension is not just a feast that "happens to fall in Eastertide": it is an integral part of the Easter mystery. Remember the Lords words at the Last Supper: I am going to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me. Jesus does not open the way to us just by rising from the dead: to complete the mystery presumes the Lords return to the Father. Ascension is therefore a feast of hope: our hope that the Lord will return, as he went. Our hope that he will take us with him, when our bodies are raised as his was. Our hope that we will take our place in heaven, where he sits at the Fathers right hand.

Notes for Readers

First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11

The writer is Saint Luke, and the first lines of this reading are a link between the Gospel which bears his name and this book. The Gospel dealt with everything Jesus said and did until he was taken up into heaven; Acts will tell the story of what happened next. The first paragraph is a summary of what happened in the forty days between the resurrection and today: Jesus showed himself alive to them (the Apostles) and instructed them. In the second paragraph they have gathered together (later Luke tells us it was on top of the Mount of Olives) to receive their final instruction  a promise of power, when the Holy Spirit will come down upon them. And with this power will come a task: to witness to all of this throughout the whole world. Then, in the mysterious last paragraph, Jesus disappears from sight, and a second promise is made: that he will return. One interesting point: this is one of only a handful of occasions when the words of the Lord Jesus appear outside the Gospel. You, as the reader, today have an even greater responsibility, because you proclaim not just the words of the prophets, or Peter or Paul, but of the Lord Jesus himself. If in your prayer and preparation you thin about this it will give your proclamation a power that will enter the minds and hearts of those listening.

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23

In the first half of this reading, there are three key concepts: hope, glory and power, which are gifts for us. Where do we find this hope and glory? What power has God exercised for us? Paul gives the answer in the second half (beginning from This you can tell ) We know about these things because of the resurrection and ascension. Because Christ has been raised, because Christ now fills the whole creation, THEREFORE we know that God gives us hope, God promises us glory, and God exercises power on our behalf. This is a difficult reading to proclaim: you must understand the way the two halves fit together. If you catch the passionate quality of the second sentence, it will help to get this reading across: underline so that you can see , rich glories and infinitely great, and then in the next line emphasise This you can tell 

Wordsearch

Click on the link to get this week's Gospel based Sunday Wordsearch. Feel free to copy and paste it into your parish publications.

"Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism." (Sacrosanctum Concilium 16)